1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mollusk cleaning devices, and more specifically, to an apparatus for mechanically rinsing and scraping bi-valve mollusks and the like wherein the mollusks are placed into a horizontally mounted perforated drum which has abrasive members and protuberances located therein against which the inserted mollusks are thrown and scraped during the axial rotation of the drum as initiated by a motor. The drum is maintained in a housing that introduces pressurized fluid into the drum and the water accumulates in a basin underneath formed by the housing in such a manner that a portion of the drum below the axle is submerged during operation thereby bathing and rinsing the mollusks rotating therein.
The present invention is designed preferably for cleaning mussels but works effectively with other bi-valve mollusks and other applications that benefit from a bathing process that includes abrasive scraping. Mussels are normally hand cleaned and require laborious wire brushing or scraping to remove barnacles and the tough tentacles by which the mussels or other bi-valves anchor onto rocks, pilings and other such objects along the shoreline,
The present invention provides a self-contained unit for simultaneously washing and scraping a multiplicity of mollusks by tumbling them in a drum with abrasive members located therein as streams of water are applied thereto thus reducing the time and labor required to prepare the product for the market or the kitchen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other shellfish cleaning devices. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 71,434 issued to White on Nov. 26, 1867.
Another patent was issued to MacQueen on Jun. 14, 1892, as U.S. Pat. No. 477,134. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 989,072 was issued to Solomon on Apr. 11, 1911 and still yet another was issued on Jul. 2, 1963 to Wier as U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,601.
Another patent was issued to Garwin et al. on Apr. 13, 1982 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,020. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,095 was issued to Bissell, Jr. et al. on Feb. 23, 1988. Another was issued to Kent, Jr. on Oct. 24, 1989 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,255 and still yet another was issued on Jul. 10, 1990 to Tillion as U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,814.
Another patent was issued to Majure et al. on Aug. 7, 1990 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,608. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,117 was issued to Lin on Nov. 23, 1999. Another was issued to Adams et al. on Jan. 4, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,397 and still yet another was issued on Apr. 26, 1985 to Besnard as French Patent No. FR2553623.
A hollow cylinder provided with blades or their equivalents, projecting inwardly from its circumference or sides, when made to revolve and otherwise adapted for the purpose of removing the scales from fish, substantially as herein set forth.
An apparatus of the class described, a revoluble turn-table having a series of water-receiving tubs mounted at intervals thereon and removable perforated cylinders mounted in the tubs, substantially as specified.
A process of extracting pearls from pearl-bearing mussels, oysters or other pearl-bearing shell-fish, which consists in impelling the pearl-bearing meat against a sub-dividing or disintegrating structure.
A device for cleaning fish adapted to be towed behind a boat; an elongated hollow cylindrical container having a perforated wall and end closures; a plurality of blade members extending angularly inwardly of the wall arranged to contact fish placed in said container to remove the scales therefrom as the container rotates in the water as it is being towed behind a boat.
Apparatus for cleaning mussels and other shellfish which can be used floating on the surface of the water from which the shellfish were taken is disclosed. A container, typically a 5-gallon can, has a great number of holes formed in its circumferential surface. The container is supported within a basin of water, typically on a body of water by a pair of bouyant rings, so that a portion of the container lies below the surface of the water thereby allowing the water to enter and exit the container through the holes in the surface of the container. A door is provided in the container for the insertion and removal of the mussels. The interior surface of the container is interrupted, typically by a plurality of vanes or ribs formed on the interior surface of the container, so that when the container is rotated, typically by a hand crank attached to one end of the container, the mussels are drawn part way up the side of the container before tumbling back upon themselves. This mutual abrading action between the shellfish, as well as the abrading action between the container and the shellfish, causes the attached sand, seaweed, and other debris to become loosened from the mussels. The loosened debris is simultaneously washed out through the holes in the container back into the water. The basin of water, in addition to supporting the container in the preferred embodiment, provide a constant source of clean water with which to rinse the shellfish as they are being cleaned.
The specification discloses a portable fish scaling device which is simple and easily used and cleaned. The device includes a water-tight bucket, an abrasive continuous surface within the bucket, and an agitator for agitating water within the bucket. As the water is agitated, fish suspended within the water gently tumble against the abrasive surface and are thereby scaled. Preferably, the abrasive surface is an inwardly dimpled bucket liner; and the agitator is a rotatable impeller.
A fish scaling apparatus and process is disclosed wherein a vertical stand 11 supports a pair of elongated, concentrically spaced, perforated drums 20,22 (FIGS. 1-7). An access door 23 is provided along the length of the outer drum 20 to permit loading and unloading of a quantity of fish in the space d between the two drums. Drums 20,22 are provided, respectively, with a plurality of dimpled perforations 25,26 through the sidewall thereof with each perforation having rough edges facing toward the space between the drums (FIG. 3a). A perforate water pipe 13 serves as an axle about which the drums 20,22 rotate and an electric motor 40, in conjunction with a selection of pulleys, (FIGS. 1-2), chain and sprocket wheels (FIG. 5), and/or gears (FIG. 10), supply the rotative force for the drums. Drums 20,22 are designed to rotate together (FIGS. 1-7), separately (FIGS. 8-9), or in opposite directions (FIG. 10). Rotation of one or both drums causes the fish therebetween to engage the rough edge perforations 25,26 and the scraping movement thereover effects removal of the fish scales. Most of the removed scales pass through the outer drum perforations 25 and are collected on a screen grid 39 disposed over drain 29 and within a removable drip pan 28 that is releasably supported by the stand (FIG. 4).
A cultured mussel cleaning machine (10) for cleaning fragile-shelled mussels, the machine (10) having a first staged (12) and a second stage (14). The first stage (12) includes a cylindrical container (16) in which is mounted a series of rotating chains (48) and flexible, abrasive gloves (56) that break apart and clean mussels (70) as they move from a loading chute (34) to a drain (72) by the force of pressurized water (68). Mussels (70) exiting the first stage (12) enter the second stage (14) where they travel down an inclined series of abrasive rollers (106). The mussels (70) are gently pressed against the abrasive rollers (106) by compressible material (112) formed on the underside (110) of a lid (84) placed over the rollers (106). The cleaned mussels (70) pass over a second drain (116) and into a container (120). The second stage (14) is detachable from the first stage (12) for remote operation where the rollers (106) are powered by a manual crank (134).
A device for scaling of fish is disclosed which includes a hollow, rotatable drum provided with a plurality of spike elements arranged in a predetermined pattern or array about the entire circumferential surface of the drum, and projecting radially inwardly, generally toward the center axis of the drum. The drum is mounted for rotation by a perforated shaft, coincident with the center axis of the drum, the shaft also serving to supply liquid to the interior of the drum for washing the fish and for removing scales from the drum. A drainage pan is located beneath the drum and includes support elements for the drum and for motor means which rotates the drum.
A shellfish wash device has a main platform, a wash tank disposed on the main platform, a tubular flow device disposed in the wash tank, a power source disposed beneath the wash tank, a main disk disposed in the tubular flow device, and a rotating cap disposed on the main disk. The power source has a motor, a first bevel gear, a pivot connected to the motor and the first bevel gear, a second bevel gear, engaging with the first bevel gear, a shaft connected to the second bevel gear, and a distal portion of the shaft passing through a center of the wash tank, a center of the tubular flow device and a center of the main disk. An end of the shaft is inserted in the rotating cap.
A method of processing bivalve molluscs comprises filling a basket-like container (11) with the bivalve molluscs and vibrating the bivalve molluscs within the container (11), thereby inducing them to close tightly under stress and compacting them together. A lid (12) is closed to maintain the compact configuration of the bivalve molluscs, which are cooked by immersing the container into boiling seawater, before being removed and plunged into chilled water to halt the cooking process. The bivalve molluscs are then blast frozen. Because the shells of the bivalve molluscs are tightly closed and better compaction is achieved by vibrating the bivalve molluscs than by compressing them into the container (11), the shells are unable to open and the internal juices are retained within the shells throughout the cooking, chilling and freezing steps, thereby resulting in processed bivalve molluscs having greatly improved organoleptic qualities upon thawing.
The invention relates to a device for declumping mussels or other shellfish and it consists of a frame 2 on which the rotary brushes 1 are fixed. The hopper 3 is intended for receiving the mussels which are transported on the metal belt 4. The deflectors 5 are intended for guiding the mussels during their passage under the brushes.
While these shellfish cleaning devices may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mechanically rinsing and scraping bi-valve mollusks as they tumble within a horizontally mounted rotating drum that has a plurality of abrasive members and protrusions situated therein.
an additional object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mechanically rinsing and scraping mollusks having a means to introduce a plurality of jet sprays to rinse the mollusks as they tumble within the drum.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mechanically rinsing and scraping mollusks wherein the drum is axially mounted to a housing that forms a basin that maintains a lower portion of the drum submerged beneath the accumulated water from the jet sprays.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mechanically rinsing and scraping mollusks wherein the drum is comprised of abrasive material hereon referred to generally and collectively as abrasive elements and has a plurality of spaced protuberances therein to provide a rotative combing action for moving the mollusks in such a manner that they are lifted and dropped to enhance the scraping action as they are thrown against one another and the abrasive elements during operation thereof.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for mechanically rinsing and scraping mollusks wherein the axial rotation of the drum is induced by a motor, said motor could be electrically or gasoline powered.
One more object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mechanically rinsing and scraping mollusks that is simple and easy to use.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mechanically rinsing and scraping mollusks that is economical in cost to manufacture.
Further objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
To the accomplishments of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described in the appended claims.